Alvar Fanez

Alvar Fanez (died April 1114) was a general of Castile and Leon and the nephew of El Cid. Fanez was an important courtier of King Alfonso VI of Castile, and he was granted virtually independent rule over Toledo as a vassal.

Biography
Alvar Fanez was born to the same noble house as Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (better known as "El Cid"), who called him his nephew. Both of them were at court under King Alfonso VI of Castile in 1076, and in 1086 Alvar was sent by King Alfonso to install his candidate al-Kadir as the new king of Valencia. However, he was recalled to fight at the battle of Sagrajas against Yusuf ibn Tashfin's larger Moorish army, and the battle was a disaster for Castile and Leon. By the mid 1090s, he was given Toledo to govern, and he was a virtually independent leader. When his uncle El Cid was exiled by King Alfonso, Alvar rallied several exiles and gave El Cid command of the army, both Christian and Moorish, and Alvar accompanied him on his campaign to conquer Valencia from the traitor al-Kadir. Alvar fought by his uncle's side in the 1092 conquest of Valencia and the 1099 defense of the city, and he was present when his uncle died in battle. Alvar would go on to fight for Castile and Leon against the Moors, surviving the disastrous 1108 Battle of Ucles and fighting against the Almoravids. He died in April 1114 while fighting against rebels against Urraca of Leon in Segovia.